Thursday, January 21, 2016

Burgeoning spring?

I'm sorry. You're going to have to humor me these days. I'm afraid I'm a bit excited for spring, when it's still too cold to spend much time outdoors.

The hyacinth and grape hyacinth are up! I moved those potted bulbs from the garage floor, to the deck, yesterday. If we get a severe cold spell, I'll bring them in overnights. I need to get a plan together, quick, for when, where and how to transplant these beauties into the garden. Getting out my mental pen and paper as I write!

The tulips, daffodils and crocus are still burrowed deep in their pots of soil. Have no fear. I'll be sure to let you know when they pop through, too!

Any signs of spring where you are right now? (And in some places, signs of fall?)

How exciting to see the first signs of spring, in midst of cold season. This post reminds me how different our lives are. Not just the weather, but how much you value beauty in your life, and well, I don't so much. Recognizing differences whenever I see them, make me ponder. I think for me, I'm an idea person and I need to experiment with my ideas, hence frugality is a welcomed challenge and so is making things. Not so much beautiful things, but working out a new process. I would be perfect living in my own world of ideas. Nuff said.

Anyway, my frugal tip for today since we're etching pennies where we can.....cereal bags that come in the cereal boxes. My husband had the great idea of saving those bags, because they are very sturdy and somewhat see through. They make excellent freezer bags. Also I can use these as liners when freezing layers of bean patties for IQF, instead of wasting wax paper as I did before.

Hi YHF,Those cereal (and cracker) box liners are great for freezing meat, too. When I buy large packages of meat and need to repackage into meal-sized amounts, I use those plastic bags that are inside boxes. Smaller ones (like from inside a cracker box) are also good for packing sandwiches to go, and they're sturdy enough to be rewashed, if just used for sandwiches (not raw meat).

Yes so true, the best part is the bags can be rewashed and they look great for use again. Unlike rewashing ziplocs...they really start looking shabby. But nowadays, I reuse ziplocs until they are not airtight (tiny hole or zipper doesn't close well), then they are used to hold other things that don't need airtight quality. In my less frugal days, I thought disposable meant disposable, but not anymore.

Um, spring ... not so much. It finally stopped snowing today (well, we are still getting flurries, but it is no longer accumulating). We have a good 2 feet on the ground, maybe more. We were able to take the kids sledding and snowshoeing over the MLK holiday so at least we are having fun with it. Honestly, spring isn't even on my radar right now. Maybe in a month. Overall, I like the snow ... thankfully, the bitterly cold temps are done for a few days (we are back in the 20s now, yay!). I would love to see the sun, though.

Oh, I understand your excitement. Flowers coming up thrill me too. After a mild start to the winter, we have been having a cold January and are waiting for a blizzard and a couple of feet of snow this weekend. We'll see how it all turns out.

Hi live and learn,We've had the reverse, here. December was very cold. The frost built up so much that it began to look like we'd had snowfall. And now, January is seeing milder temps. I hope you are all set for hunkering down in the snowstorm. I also pray that this storm does not turn out to be so horrible, out there.

Yes, yes, yes!!! The cold is finally loosening its grip on the Mile High City! We've actually been blessed with some warm weather recently ("warm" meaning in the 40's - but still...) Anyhow, I FINALLY got to go for a bike ride yesterday! It was cold, and muddy, and I had to get off and walk in a few spots where there was still too much ice to safely ride, but it was wonderful! C'mon spring!!!!